The present invention relates to the field of resource management and, more particularly, to enhancing initial resource allocation management to provide robust reconfiguration.
In many industries, management of resources can be critical to operations and success within the industry. Traditional approaches to resource management can include a configuration phase and a contingency planning phase. That is, resource management procedures can establish resource configurations which permit the operation of a resource in normal conditions and in adverse conditions. For example, when a new project is created, resources can be allocated (e.g., configuration phase) and a contingency plan (e.g., contingency planning phase) can be established after the allocation is performed. Contingency planning phase often produces a contingency plan which can direct the reconfiguration of the service during a contingency occurrence (e.g., network outage). Frequently, a service can be unable to be reconfigured due to infeasibility of a contingency plan when a contingency occurs. For example, a contingency plan can require reliance on an outside resource which can be unavailable during a network outage. Consequently, traditional approaches to resource management can result in suboptimal performance due to decoupling of these two phases.
Further, contingency plans can often require high reconfiguration costs which can negatively impact service availability and performance. That is, since the contingency planning can be done after the configuration of the service, resource constraints of the service can often conflict. Conflicts such as resource overloading, geographical constraints, and human resource issues can prevent contingency plans to be enacted easily.
In worst case scenarios, resources of a service can be allocated without planning for contingencies. This can be attributed to the high complexity and time consuming nature of contingency planning. When these worst case scenarios occur, disruption of service and/or service outages can be realized as a result of insufficient resource availability. For example, when an e-commerce Web site server fails and the server is not associated with a reconfiguration scenario, the Web site can be unavailable for extended periods of time. That is, failure to develop reconfiguration scenario can negatively impact resource availability, usage, and cost which can be detrimental to operations of an organization.